Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: On a Summer Day should progress in 3-year-old debut

Aqueduct | Race 8 | Post Time 4:54 p.m. (ET)

Practical Romance (#10) figures to attract support as she ships in to New York to face state-breds for the first time after making her debut against open company at Fair Grounds. She ran pretty well to finish third against that field in Louisiana, but she also got a perfect trip. Breaking from the inside post, she got right over the rail and rode the pocket every step of the way. It was a merry-go-round affair where the leaders dominated, and she just stayed on at one pace behind them. Now she's drawn in an outside post, so she may have to use a little more early speed to get over and save ground. Brittany Russell is just 3 for 26 (12%, $1.30 ROI) with maiden second time starters in turf routes over 5 years, and this filly might need a slight step forward to beat this group.

Main rival Gallant Greta (#2) is a little more appealing to me. It might appear that her recent form has really tailed off, as she has been disappointing at short prices in each of her last two dirt starts. Yet her dirt debut isn't quite as strong as it appears, since she stayed inside throughout riding a rail bias. She significantly improved when switched to turf last year, and ran better than it looks in both grass starts. She encountered some traffic before staying on for third in August, and then made the first move in a race that ultimately fell apart in September. She's now getting back on the right surface for a dangerous barn.

I'm taking a shot against this pair with On a Summer Day (#1), who returns from a layoff to make her 3-year-old debut. Her form during her juvenile season was pretty solid for a New York-bred filly. She almost wired a field in her turf debut at Delaware before running a good third at 23-1 when she tried this state-bred level in September. She then got a wide trip two weeks later, and was compromised by setting a fast pace when she stepped up against open company to conclude her turf season. She's been given the winter off, and now returns for the underrated John Pregman barn. He hasn't made this move often, but Pregman is 3 for 5 (60%, $5.96 ROI) off 90 to 180 day layoffs in turf routes over the last 5 years. This filly gets Lasix and shows a tab of improving workouts for her 3-year-old debut.